We have observed the emergence of experiments that attempt to address the dissatisfaction of citizens with representative democracy as we know it. This discontent, which exists worldwide, has inspired transformative actions that enable us to imagine a renewal of democratic practices. Individuals, organizations and the State have been working together and the result has been initiatives that aim to give new meaning to transparency, accountability, participation and political pedagogy. There is an emerging ecosystem formed by different public and private actors that is full of strengths and challenges requiring attention. In this context, it is important to identify and bring together actors and make progress in understanding how to strengthen successful experiments and create the conditions for new ones to arise. It is necessary to reflect on political innovation, as well as on the function of private social investment in this process of building new practices – the goal of this panel.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched in September 2015 by the UN as a global agenda to lend systemic continuity and depth to the challenges proposed by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The implementation of these goals in municipalities has proven to be extremely challenging and important, given that this requires multi-sector arrangements and local commitment to ensure that it is effective and focused on results and impact. This panel will address the SDGs as an opportunity to construct and strengthen common agendas in municipalities, employing a systemic vision for their execution that will require multi-sector implementation arrangements. What are these arrangements, what should they look like and what are their goals? What is the role of the various actors involved in these arrangements? What are the implementation models? What type of articulation needs to occur between different actors in order to guide the actions that comprise this common agenda? How can policies promoting this agenda be developed and encouraged? What forums for dialogue and discussion need to exist for this agenda to be underpinned by a systemic vision? These and other questions will be presented and discussed in this panel, which will have the participation of the various sectors necessary to reflect on these implementation arrangements.

This panel will discuss the possibilities for alignment between private social investment and business that have been considered and tried by institutions, foundations and their respective sponsor companies. Studies existing today on the topic of alignment have revealed the presence of distinct perspectives and methods, as well as different perspectives on the role and the relevance of private social investment. What are the opportunities for mutual strategic influence that emerge from this relationship? What are its implications on the public meaning of private social investment? How does alignment broaden the possibilities for business activities with public meaning? How has the dialogue between private social investment and corporate social responsibility been developing and what are the governance challenges that have emerged from this context? The panel will prompt a reflection on the findings of recent studies on the topic and a discussion with social investors that have experienced in practice the dilemmas posed by this agenda.

The pursuit of a greater amount of private social investment in health should begin with an understanding of how the Brazilian health system is organized, together with the different regional realities in the country. The analysis of this context makes it possible to appreciate that intra-governmental and cross-sector dialogue - and, in particular, dialogue with the community - is essential for the success of the initiatives. More effective actions in this field, therefore, should start from the perspective of integrated intervention in the territory, which can enhance resources and create durable actions that contribute to the improvement of the health indicators of the most vulnerable population, thereby promoting quality of life and human development. It is indispensable in this process to improve management mechanisms aimed at implementing a cross-cutting, integrated and cross-sector state policy that encourages debate between the various areas of the health sector, other government departments, the private and non-governmental sectors and society, in order to form networks of commitment and co-responsibility regarding the quality of life of the population. This panel will discuss the possibilities of working in a cross-sectoral and cooperative manner in the health sector, illustrating how private social investment can play a more effective role in this agenda.

Whether due to their economic and political weight, or to the influence of their sponsors, private social investors have a strong capacity to bring together actors that contribute to their work. As an important and growing trend in the field of social investment, co-investment initiatives have taken on various characteristics and conceptions, depending on the context in which they are located. Frequently, they are a response to the idea that the challenges are too big and require coordinated action, bringing together organizations that work in the same field and that jointly have the potential to cause more of an impact. They challenge the roles played by investors that are simultaneously donors, fundraisers and, often, operators of the environmental and social projects. It also creates the sensation that the investors are redistributing resources among themselves, helping to characterize an endogenous movement in a field that is already perceived as self-serving. To what extent have these arrangements increased the social impact of the initiatives and helped strengthen social causes and civil society organizations? How much do they influence the innovation capacity of social investment?

The panel will address, in a dynamic and participatory way, the various consequences of the presence of mining activities in local territories and the opportunities for promoting a more sustainable territorial development. These mining activities generally create complex problems whose solutions are also complex, requiring a more comprehensive, complementary and systemic approach with multi-sector involvement. Dialogue and transparency are fundamental in collaborative and engagement processes to develop joint agendas that enable the construction of public goods and produce a truly sustainable territorial development. What are the risks and opportunities that arise routinely and in adverse contexts? Where can corporate social responsibility considerations and tools still contribute to these discussions? Are the roles and responsibilities the same in the territories with large-scale mining projects? What are the specific challenges of private social investment in these contexts? What solutions can be proposed based on new arrangements? Dialogue here is identified as the method, while transparency is the fundamental element of dialogue and it is also achieved through dialogue.

The collaboration of private social investment with public policies is undoubtedly a strong strategy to implement the vision of a social investment with greater impact, relevance, scope and diversity, possibly even generating results in all four of these dimensions simultaneously. The development of this relationship, however, implies understanding how it has been established and the potential for mutual enhancement considering its different formats and intensities. This panel will address the evolution of the models of interaction between private social investment and public policies in Brazil, with a view to debating questions such as: Are we experiencing a new framework of public-private relations? What arrangements are possible, and what are their possibilities and challenges? What are the roles and responsibilities of each one? What are the limits of this relationship? Can collaborative governance be a way to meet the expectation of this action?

The panel will address the social investment of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and its relationship with the country’s leading social investors through its programs Fundo Amazonia (Amazon Fund), Subcredito/ISE (Sub-Credit/Corporate Social Investment) and Fundo Social (Social Fund). The strategy, workings and management of these credit mechanisms will be presented and their overall impact on the private social investment sector will be discussed. The articulation with public policy programs, the regulatory framework governing these public-private relations and the significance of the volume of funds and their potential to generate social change will be key topics. What is the BNDES’s vision of its role in promoting public policies based on private social investment? How have these partnerships contributed to the social development of the country? How have these mechanisms shaped relations between the public and private sectors in the production of the public good? How can these relations be improved and expanded to encompass more and better public policies? These and other questions will be discussed on this panel in a conversation with the BNDES.

The current situation in Brazil requires broader and deeper reflections on transparency, especially when it comes to public-private relations. We know that the big issues being debated and the resulting efforts to make progress are highly focused on relations between companies and governments, but private social investment should also be involved. The sector lacks positions and mechanisms with a greater direct commitment to transparency, particularly given its mission to contribute to the public good using private resources. Transparency is fundamental for strengthening the public meaning of private social investment, for its legitimacy and for increasing public confidence in its work and its political role. What does transparency mean to organizations that are engaged with the production of the public good? How can relations and dialogue between actors be streamlined into more transparent processes? What type of communication serves the interest and commitment of society for more transparency? What mechanisms can make concrete steps towards more transparency in relations and results? These issues will be addressed in this discussion, which will also launch the GIFE Transparency Panel.

This panel will briefly put into context the agenda of social impact businesses in Brazil, with an emphasis on innovative models for the role of philanthropic capital. Given the emergence of the field of social finance and the recent publication, in Brazil, of the Report of the Task Force on Social Finance and its Recommendations, it is important to reflect on how institutions, foundations and companies can become more engaged with this agenda, either by investing financial resources or by contributing non-financial resources. The panel aims to raise awareness about the various roles that philanthropic capital can play in the field of social impact businesses in Brazil, by addressing innovative models (donation, crowd equity and sub-credit, among others).

What is the public meaning of private social investment in Brazil? There are many questions associated with this topic. How are foundations, institutions and companies organizing themselves to assure alignment between private social investment, the work of non-governmental organizations and the pursuit of public policies? How can a more decisive contribution be made towards realizing the ambitions of most private social investors on the potential of a quality public education for all? Does an alignment of the strategies of companies and of institutions and foundations help or hinder the potential of the social investment made? Does the social reporting of companies and foundations practice selective transparency? These and other questions will be debated by 4 experts, moderated by the journalist Mônica Waldvogel, based on the statements of opinion formers (executives of companies and social organizations, young entrepreneurs and academics).